Louisville Defeats Oregon to Move on to the Elite 8

Top-overall-seed Louisville continued its run towards a national title by securing a spot in the Elite Eight with a dominant 77-69 win over No. 12 Oregon.

Russ Smith led the the way for the Cardinals on offense, and GorguiDieng took care of the defense. Smith finished with a game-high 31 points, while Dieng dominated down low with nine rebounds, two steals and four blocks.

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The Ducks proved conclusively in their first two games that they were under-seeded, but the Cardinals showed immediately from the start of this contest that the selection committee was right to choose them as the best team in the 2013 NCAA tournament.

Despite senior point guard Peyton Siva's absence for much of the first half due to foul trouble, Louisville dominated the opening 20 minutes. Rick Pitino's team was up by as many as 16 points and ultimately took a 14-point lead into the locker room.

The lead ebbed and flowed throughout the second half, as Oregon refused to go down in a blowout. E.J. Singler led the Ducks in scoring with 15 points, while fellow senior ArsalanKazemi chipped in 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Ducks closed the deficit to as little as six points, but every time Oregon made a run, Louisville responded in a big way.

The Cardinals controlled this game from start to finish, with the exception of a few brief periods, and Pitino's team looks invincible heading into the Elite Eight.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Twitter Reaction

Pac-12 Digital's Bryan Fischer noticed right at the beginning of this game that Oregon did not look like it was up for the challenge of playing the best team in the country:

There was a brief moment of hope in the first half for Oregon, and Yahoo! Sports' Pat Forde was quick to point it out. However, he later noted that it wasn't long before Louisville's dominance returned:

Nice regroup by Oregon. Settling down in halfcourt now and back within eight.